Civil Rights and Protests

The Post-Civil Rights Era

Has the U.S. government passed legislation to investigate lynching and murders during the Civil Rights era?

On February 7, 2005, the U.S. Senate passed Resolution 39 which apologized for lynching in the United States. The lack of prior action by the Senate, which rejected three anti-lynching measures presented by the U.S. House of Representatives between 1920 and 1940, resulted in denied civil rights and the deaths of numerous African Americans. The Resolution acknowledges lynching as the ultimate act of racism and apologizes to the victims as well as to the families. As a result of Resolution 39, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act was made into law. This legislation established, within the U.S. Department of Justice, an office to investigate and prosecute Civil Rights era murders.

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